Of the many death threats made by Hillary supporters, the most serious that warrant our attention — and dissemination via your email and social media — are death threats targeting Electoral College voters who, on December 19, will actually determine who will be America’s next President.

Fearing a tyranny of the majority, our Founding Fathers created the Electoral College — as well as the U.S. Senate — to protect small states from being dominated by states with large populations. As you can see in this map of the 2016 election, the blue spots are cities and urban areas with large populations. If the Electoral College were abolished, it would be the mostly Democratic urban residents who get to decide who win presidential elections.

All states except Maine and Nebraska have chosen their Electoral College electors on a “winner-take-all” basis since the 1880s. Under the winner-take-all system, the state’s electors are awarded to the candidate with the most votes in that state. Although there have been very few occasions when an elector voted contrary to a pledge, no federal law actually requires electors to honor their pledge, which explains Hillary supporters’ last-ditch effort to subvert and upend the 2016 presidential election via death threats to the Electors.

Michael Gerstein reports for The Detroit News, Nov. 17, 2016, that an online petition on change.org signed by more than 4.3 million people is calling on the nation’s electors to vote for Clinton instead of Trump:

“We are calling on the electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton. Mr. Trump is unfit to serve. His scapegoating of so many Americans, and his impulsivity, bullying, lying, admitted history of sexual assault, and utter lack of experience make him a danger to the Republic.”

But some Hillary supporters are threatening the electors with death.

Michael Banerian, an Electoral College voter for the state of Michigan, says he has received emails, including death threats, urging him to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Banerian, 22, is a political science senior at Oakland University and a youth vice chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

On Dec. 19, Banerian is scheduled to join 15 other Michiganians to cast their electoral votes for Republican President-elect Donald Trump. But the Michigan Republican Party claims that Hillary supporters have deluged Banerian and other GOP electors with pleas and nasty emails to reverse course and cast their ballots for Clinton. Banerian said:

“You have people saying ‘you’re a hateful bigot, I hope you die.’ I’ve had people talk about shoving a gun in my mouth and blowing my brains out. And I’ve received dozens and dozens of those emails.Even the non-threatening-my-life emails are very aggressive. Even if I could, I wouldn’t be remotely interested in changing my vote. The people of Michigan spoke, and it’s our job to deliver that message.”

Banerian’s claim is verified by The Detroit News. The newspaper confirmed one message containing a death wish and another containing a death threat, in which the sender threatened to “put a bullet” in Banerian’s mouth.

51-year-old Kenneth Crider is another Michigan Electoral College elector who’s a heating and air conditioning professional from Livonia. Although he hasn’t received any death threats or intimidating emails, Crider said he has received more than 300 emails from people in other states asking him to vote for Clinton instead of Trump on Dec. 19, many of which were from teachers and professors trying to explain to him the gravity of the situation, urging him to change his mind. But Crider said he’s “100 percent behind Donald Trump.”

Indeed, Michigan law requires the state’s 16 electors to cast their votes for the presidential candidate who wins the majority of voters, said Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams. With 96% of the votes counted, Trump wins Michigan with 47.6% (2,279,805 votes) vs. Hillary’s 47.4% (2,268,193 votes). Woodhams said that even if Banerian or another elector had a change of heart, other Michigan electors would just cast another vote for Trump.

Michigan Republican Party spokeswoman Sarah Anderson said that hearing from the electors that they have received death threats, “I’m interested in getting a consensus from the group … and seeing if it’s something that we should report to the police. It’s obviously something that we’re taking very seriously.”

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon condemned the death threat and intimidating message sent to Banerian: “That’s absolutely wrong, and anybody who sends a threat like that frankly should be prosecuted.”

Other states also report that their Electors have received death threats.

According to WND, Clinton-backers are targeting roughly 160 Republican electorates in the 15 states that Trump won and don’t have laws bounding the electorates to the winner: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kempissued a statement urging Georgians and others to refrain from using threatening and disparaging language to manipulate electors:

“The Presidential election is over but, unfortunately, the vitriol remains,” stated Secretary of State Brian Kemp. “Our office has received numerous reports of individuals hurling insults and threats at Georgia’s Electors because they are unsettled with America’s choice for President of the United States. This is absolutely unacceptable and those participating in or encouraging these efforts should stop. The electoral process in America has worked, and everyone – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and others – should respect the will of Georgia’s voters and the Electors who represent them.”

Fox News reported that Arizona electors are also being harassing and threatened by Clinton supporters:

“Arizona’s presidential electors are reportedly being hit by a flood of emails and phone calls demanding they defy the voters in their state and choose Hillary Clinton instead of President-elect Donald Trump — as part of a last-gasp bid to overturn the election.”

BuzzFeed reported on Nov. 16 that national anti-Trump protest group #NotMyPresident Alliance has released the personal information of dozens of Electoral College members in states that voted Republican. The group distributed a spreadsheet to Hillary supporters which includes the electors’ personal phone numbers, addresses, religions, races, genders and candidate preference.